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 Brussels has given a go-ahead to the
construction of the second Bulgarian bridge over the Danube River, by approving the tender
documentation.
Now the summer deadline wished by both Bulgaria and Romania for the start
of construction works at Vidin-Kalafat seem quite doable.
The paperwork was approved after initially Brussels returned it for re-negotiation
of a German crediting agreement.
Bulgaria's Transport Ministry said
Wednesday they believed agreements with the designer and the contractor to be
selected would be signed by the end of this year.
Vesela Gospodinova, deputy transport
minister, said the tender paperwork would be sent next week to short-listed
construction firms that have already been approved by Brussels to participate.
Bulgaria is to hire a company to begin
construction on the bridge, which should be ready by the end of 2009.
The project will cost about EUR 226 M, including EUR 60 M financing by the
Bulgarian government. The rest of the funding is to be provided through loans
from the European Investment Bank, the French Agency for Development
and the German Institution for Reconstruction and Development.
The bridge will be a four-lane highway with a railroad as well.
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